B-day present for my wife

Slowly making progress...

I'm not completely happy with the bridge pickup route... It's a bit sloppy. I'm going to try and smooth it out with some files but if that don't work, at least I have the pickup ring to cover it. I didn't want to use the ring because I want to keep the guitar as true as possible... But the headstock is different, so who cares... Just hope it's not ugly...

 

Got the trem cavity done today.


And it fits...

I'm a little concerned about the saddle height...

Granted the saddles are flat against the baseplate but I'm wondering if this is going to be a problem... Right now there's almost 1/8" clearance to the saddle.

 

Today was belly contour carving day.


Now I need to figure out exactly how I'm going to do the top carves... I need to take off quite a bit of area on the topsides and keep the contours level. I'm thinking about buying a surform planer. Thought about using a router but I don't want to mess with building the jigs. Think I'm just going to take my time and do it by hand.

 

Moving right along...



Still have some tool mearks to get out and some more blending, but will do that later. Now on to the other side...

 

Today, I did the other contour, though it's hard to tell...


It's a slight contour in the other direction. I also received the 5 way super switch yesterday...

So I should be set for everything... Oh yeah, I have some locking tuners on the way as well... But should be here by the time I need them. Now I just need to drill holes for the electronics and route out the control cavity and then I can get started on all the sanding... My favorite part...

 

One of the challenges on this build for me was going to be the slot for the 5 way switch. I've never done one before and don't have a dremel or such like tool with a small enough bit. So I did some research and went with the drill a bunch of small holes consecutively and use a utility knife to connect them. I then used a jig saw blade to clean up the slot and finished with a small file. And the results ...

Not perfect but acceptable. I think I'm going to have to make that part of the control cavity about an 1/8" thick or less so the switch will work properly with a switch tip on... That makes me a little nervous...

 

I was able to get some more work done today.

I wasn't happy with the bottom contour so I took some more wood off. Then I drilled out the holes for the pots and jack and routed out the control cavity.



I'm going to wait until I drill the holes and slot for the switch before I finish thicknessing the part where the switch goes... It's about a 1/4" thick right now if my calculations are correct... But it feels thinner... Also these came in the mail today.

Inexpensive locking tuners... They seem decent quality...

 

I think I'm going to stick to the original diagram. I can always change it in the future if I so choose.

 

Today I did the switch slot. I'm happy with how it turned out. I will need to thin out the control cavity a hair...

And all the components fit!

Now I have a lot of sanding and fine tuning to do... I may end up making the neck pocket a little deeper as well... And then finish modifying the neck to work with this body (at the heel).

 

Yeah, I got the wiring diagram from ernie ball via this forum... So I'm going to wire it up stock so to speak.

 

Today I made the neck pocket a little deeper and bolted the neck on.



So far this is turning out to be my best build yet (which is not saying a whole lot)... We'll see how it goes when it's time to do the finish... Definitely not my strong point.... But I've been mostly satisfied with how this guitar is turning out. Next I'm going to have to do some more contouring around the neck pocket and the heel of the neck and the try to blend the two. Also want to do a little more blending on the body around the belly cut and arm contour.